I'm running a Visiontek HD4850 (system specs to the left), and the other day, my system froze, went to a blank screen, and the LCD poster for my motherboard showed a "VGA BIOS" message. I haven't seen that error message since, but afterwards I've been getting lockups in Crysis and S.T.A.L.K.E.R (the only two games I have installed at the moment). I'm still able to exit to Windows when these lockups occur. I was originally getting this with Catalyst 8.6 with hotfix, and I also got it with vanilla 8.6. I did a reformat and re-install of Vista, installed the 8.7 beta, but this didn't help. Could this be a problem with the BIOS? (There's no real documentation from ASUS as to what that error message means. I only got that error once.). Or is this just a driver issue? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
This is the Nvidia forum, but i'll help you anyway. I'd start first by checking the temps of the card. A VGA Bios error most likely means that the temps were too high so the cards BIOS did an automatic shut-down. Lock-ups in a game can also be caused by high temps. I'd use a temp application that can monitor your temps in game, and possibly use riva-tuner to clock up your fan speed and bring the temps down if need be.
Crap. I just noticed that I'm in the wrong forum as I read your reply. Sorry, I'll repost there. Thanks for the explanation of the VGA BIOS message. I did adjust the fanspeed using the xml adjustment, and the crashes occur fairly quickly.
Ok, so as usual, my solution was to throw more money at it. I returned the 4850 and got a 4870 instead, and I still get the same problems. I noticed that the problem seems to be limited to DirectX 10. When I play Crysis in DX9 everything is fine, but in DX10 I get serious slowdowns, artifacts (like the second to last boss disappearing into the ground or hovering above). This is a fresh install of Vista 32-bit, so I'm really not sure what's wrong. I've gotten the latest updates for DirectX, and I get these errors using Catalyst 8.7 beta and 8.6/8.6 hotfix. Is this simply a matter of Vista/DX10 being 'teh suCk'? ===== Problem signature: Problem Event Name: APPCRASH Application Name: Crysis.exe Application Version: 1.1.1.6156 Application Timestamp: 47d6d167 Fault Module Name: d3d10core.dll Fault Module Version: 6.0.6001.18000 Fault Module Timestamp: 4791a65a Exception Code: c0000005 Exception Offset: 00025bd1 OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3 Locale ID: 1033 Additional Information 1: 9f74 Additional Information 2: 0617f35cbf9dcca9707fdf7fe6d150da Additional Information 3: b2f5 Additional Information 4: cc83cead12ab6718f10fabea347aabf7 ==== Problem signature: Problem Event Name: APPCRASH Application Name: Crysis.exe Application Version: 1.1.1.6156 Application Timestamp: 47d6d167 Fault Module Name: atidxx32.dll Fault Module Version: 7.15.10.134 Fault Module Timestamp: 4862f73e Exception Code: c0000005 Exception Offset: 00017c73 OS Version: 6.0.6001.2.1.0.768.3 Locale ID: 1033 Additional Information 1: cf3b Additional Information 2: b7c50dfc8d52034de94e87561a5a8f5f Additional Information 3: 3f77 Additional Information 4: a6dbbed2223df106a1c87000afd98a54
That looks like the AL sound card bug to me... add this to the shortcut for "Stalker" Code: -dsound So the "Target" in your Stalker shortcut reads .....\bin\XR_3DA.exe -dsound That will force stalker to use Direct sound... I don't have Crysis but maybe you can alter something in its config file to achieve the same results.... or ask someone more familiar with the game?
Thanks!! I'll give it a shot. (I notice we have similar setups (MB/CPU/4870)... well, except for the fact that you have TWO 4870s. I'm really glad I switched the 4870. :nerd: )
